7 Week Update – The Baby Smiles Have Arrived

Hi Everyone,

I cannot believe it is now 7 weeks since Josh was born! In some ways it feels like it has been so much longer and in other ways it has absolutely flown by. I have to admit, I was so glad when we hit the 6 week mark. I feel like I’ve been on such a long recovery after giving birth and I’ve found it quite hard at times. Having such a difficult birth seems to have stuck in my head a lot and I had to take painkillers and have injections daily for the full six weeks as part of the recovery. It sounds weird as they were things to help me feel better but I hated them as I felt they were a daily reminder of my difficult labour, so I was delighted to get to 6 weeks and they were all finished.

Thankfully I am starting to feel much more like myself again. Thank God! I’ve honestly had some really hard days, as I have no doubt every mother has experienced. There have been days when my husband has come home to me in tears from frustration and exhaustion. I found those first few weeks really hard; I was so sleep deprived and I could feel myself getting down. I had some days where I was really lacking enthusiasm for things I’d normally really enjoy and I would just randomly burst in to uncontrollable tears. I knew this was to be expected in the days after giving birth but not after 5 weeks! Knowing this wasn’t right, and having felt low feelings in the past, I made sure to talk to my husband and friends and family. One thing I’ve learnt is to face things head on and not bury your head in the sand, and having spoken up I feel a lot better. I also think being able to drive again has helped loads – we’ve been going out and about every day and we’ve signed up for lots of classes including baby sensory, baby massage and baby yoga! It’s been lovely meeting up with friends and going for walks; the fresh air seems to make Josh sleep well too!

Josh is doing so well; he is gaining weight at a steady rate and is now 12lb 10oz! I’m obviously doing something right; my friend whose little girl is 14 weeks weighs the same as Josh!!! He’s absolutely gorgeous though and we are now settling in to some loose routines; he has a short nap most mornings between 8 and 9 am which I make use of by putting on washing and having a shower. And he usually has a longer 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, although sometimes this goes to pot if we are out in the afternoon. In the evenings I’ve been going to bed at 8.30ish and leaving Josh with the hubby downstairs and he has a bottle of expressed milk around 11ish and Sam brings him up once he’s had that. This is working out amazingly for me because Josh doesn’t usually wake up again until around 3am which means I get up to 6 hours of proper sleep which is amazing. Of course it doesn’t work every night if Sam wants to come to bed early, or if he’s away with work, but it has helped me so much so far.

Josh and I also had our first couple of nights on our own this week as Sam was away with work. I have to admit I was apprehensive about it but I knew we just had to get on with it. The first night Josh was super bunged up and didn’t sleep well at all; he was up nearly every hour after midnight. I couldn’t even be annoyed at him cause he’d lie there when I’d go to feed him and look straight at me smiling. The second night was much better thankfully although I made the mistake at dawn of having Josh on me for a cuddle and I dozed off to sleep for a short time and woke up to him furiously rooting my collarbone which has resulted in me having a massive hicky! Yep – my son gave me a love bite!!! God knows how I’m going to cover it up. It was pretty funny though.

It’s lovely that now Josh has started smiling and giggling – it makes me feel as though I can interact with him so much more now that I can make him laugh and smile. And of course baby giggles are the cutest noise in the world! He’s done it in his sleep a couple of times which is random but adorable.

So we’ve had a good week and to finish it off we are off on our first little holiday with him. We go to Centre Parcs every year with my husbands family for a long weekend, so we’ve got that to look forward to.

I hope you are all having a good week and wrapping up warm from this freezing cold weather! Look out for my post next week on my favourite fashions of the moment which I am happily embracing now that I am out of maternity clothes (well, more or less)!

You may also enjoy:

19 Comments

Hiya, reading your post really reminded me of the early weeks with Baby K. Sounds like you’re doing really well at 7 weeks. I’m sure I was still feeling dazed at that point! Enjoy Centre Parcs; sounds like it’s a well deserved break 🙂

Ah, it’s such a lovely moment when the smiles start coming! You sound like you’re doing great – at 7 weeks I’m sure I was still in the fog of everything, but my diary tells me we did have a family holiday to Cornwall which seems mental to me now, but we had a great time! I hope you all have a lovely relaxing time at Centre Parks! #bloggerclubuk

Ah smiling and giggling really makes it so much more rewarding and better doesn’t it! Love that sensory pic of Josh and well done for surviving your first solo parenting stint! Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub lovely! x

Ohh he looks like he is loving those sensory lights! You are doing so well, these early weeks and months can be tough. You are getting more sleep than me though and my youngest is 15 months now haha! Thanks for linking up to #HappyDaysLinky x

Ah be kind to yourself, it is still so early. They say it can take 6 months to a year to feel completely human again and I completely agree. I think i started to feel normal at about 8 months when sleep became more regular. Talking is critical though so that is great that you are talking to friends and family. And hurrah for smiles! Thank you for sharing in #HappyDaysLinky x

I like this post Fiona because it is real. Life is like that with high and lows and the first weeks after giving birth are the hardest especially if you have had a difficult birth. Feeling exhausted and very emotional is completely normal. I use to cry a lot. I guess it is such a massive change to our daily routine that it is a shock to our system if you know what I mean. It takes time to heal inside and outside. So that is why the doctors say you should have 6 weeks before you start feeling yourself again and you can see that this is true. I’m so happy to read that things are getting better and you are getting back to feel yourself again. Josh is just too cute! That photo of him is just so beautiful. You are doing a great job lovely!! Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS. I would love to see you again on Sunday! 🙂 x

Wow! You are doing really well, and Josh is doing so well too. Good on you! Congratulations for getting out of maternity clothes. My small girl is near two (in April) and I am still in them! Sigh… I now feels really bad. Looking forward to see your fashion post soon. x #thebabyformula

It’s lovely when they hit the 6 weeks mark & become more interactive! Those first smiles & giggles are so precious. It’s also a nice time for you when you start to get back to yourself. Josh is adorable! Congratulations. Thanks so much for linking up with the #BloggerClubUK linky x

Oh firstly what a gorgeous photo!! He’s such a cutie, I bet you just love cuddles! It sounds like you’re all doing well, and I completely agree those first 6 weeks were the hardest, and I’m so glad to hear you’ve settled into a routine and are able to talk about how you’re feeling – that’s the big thing, just letting it all out!!